Spying spouses and Fake identities, divorce and the Facebook battleground

A woman posed as a teenage girl on Facebook to dig for dirt on her husband ahead of their divorce – and ended up getting him arrested by the FBI.

Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege. (author unknown)

What would angry, bitter divorcing couples do without Facebook for a battleground?

In the latest example of two people losing all sense of reason while they part ways, Angela Voelkert, of Indiana, decided to go digital dirt-digging on her ex-husband, David. She created a fake profile on Facebook of a teenager named Jessica Studebaker (complete with a cute picture) and became friends with him.

“Jessica” quickly became a confidante, as The New York Post reports, and everything was going to plan. But then Mr. Voelkert began to spill details of a plot to bump off Angela. In e-mail messages, he apparently explained how he had attached a GPS to his ex’s car so he could find her when the time came, and even allegedly asked “Jessica” whether she knew someone who might do the job for him.

Ms. Voelkert went to the authorities, who promptly charged Mr. Voelkert last week with illegally installing a GPS, with warnings of more charges to come. In court, the Post story says, his e-mails were widely quoted, including his asking Jessica to run away with him when the deed was done. “Let me know, Baby!” (Signed with a smiley face.)

Except, on Tuesday, all charges were dropped suddenly. It appears Mr. Voelkert had been running a scam of his own. According to The Smoking Gun, he produced a notarized affidavit – signed six days before he first mentioned any sinister plans – that made clear he’d suspected all along that Jessica was really Angela. His affidavit stated that he had “no plans” to harm anyone. “I am lying to this person,” the affidavit states, “to gain positive proof that it is indeed my ex-wife trying to again tamper in my life.”

For all their mutual scheming, Mr. Voelkert paid the bigger price: He spent four days in custody until federal investigators confirmed his affidavit was real. (In the end, though, it’s the kids trapped in the middle of this mess that deserve our sympathy.)

If you had to take sides, who was the most wrong? The wife for spying? Or did the husband’s fake murder plot go too far?